Charles Bruzon
Charles Arthur Bruzon | |
|---|---|
| Government Minister | |
| Assumed office 2011 | |
| Shadow Minister | |
| In office 2003–2007 | |
| Shadow Minister | |
| In office 2007–2011 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gibraltar |
| Nationality | British (Gibraltarian) |
| Political party | Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP) |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Portfolio | Minister for Housing and the Elderly |
| Website | Charles Bruzon at the Government of Gibraltar website |
The Hon. Charles Arthur Bruzon is a former curate and politician of Gibraltar, affiliated with the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP). He is married and he has two children. In the general elections of 2011, he was elected and appointed Minister for Housing and the Elderly.[1]
Biography
For Bruzon, despite being the son of a City Councillor and former member of the Legislative Assembly, the political vocation came after a religious vocation. In his youth, he studied for six years in the Usher Theological College (a Catholic seminary) in Durham, which he left after being ordained priest in 1962.[2]
Bruzon was sent to Gibraltar and remained there for seven years as curate of the Bishop John Farmer Healy. However, after four years in office, Bruzon began questioning his choice. It was not just a question of celibacy, since he says he fell in love with his future wife over a year after having broken his ties with the Catholic Church, but he was feeling that the church had moved away from people. According to Bruzon, despite having shown sympathy for the personal dilemma of the parish priest, his superiors could do little to speed up the Vatican's dispensation process from priestly obligations, which took eighteen months to be realized.[2]
After leaving the religious life, Bruzon got a job accounting for the Castle Marketing Group, where he worked for three years for the father of Joe Holliday. However, newly married and pressured by the lack of housing in Gibraltar, he decided to take a job in Hatton Garden in London. He worked at the South Africa's Deciduous Fruit Board in the Strand in London. Their two children were born during their stay in England. in 1987 he returned to Gibraltar with his family.[2]
Working in a furniture shop, Bruzon claims to have come into contact with the problems of the population of the Rock, not only insofar as it concerns the issue of housing (or lack thereof), but also the difficulty in delivering furniture, because of the way that many of the local houses had been designed. But his political activism work only began to develop in 1996, when he joined the Voice of Gibraltar Group[3] and went to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, asking for a resolution concerning the pressures of Spain against the residents of Gibraltar.[2]
In 2001, Bruzon joined the GSLP. In the general elections of 2003, he was elected with the third highest number of votes of the opposition, along with another newcomer, Lucio Randall.[4] Appointed Shadow Minister for Housing, Bruzon said he had carefully studied all the promises made by the Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD) since 1996, about a solution to the chronic housing question in the Rock. In his analysis, the problem worsened during the administration of Peter Caruana.[2]
Bruzon was re-elected to the Parliament in 2007 and remained as Minister for Housing. In 2011, with the victory of the alliance GSLP/GLP in the general elections, he was appointed Minister for Housing and the Elderly.[1]
Since 2003, Bruzon is a member of the Christian Socialist Movement.[5] His nephew, Father Charles Bruzon, is the military chaplain aboard the HMS Daring.[6]
References
- ^ a b Leo Olivero. Panorama (ed.). "A Government For All!". Retrieved 2012-10-11.
- ^ a b c d e VOX, ed. (2007-07-14). "Charles Bruzon: From Priesthood To Parliament". Retrieved 2012-10-11.
- ^ "The Voice of Gibraltar Group". Retrieved 2012-10-11.
- ^ "Gibraltar Legislative Election 2003". Retrieved 2012-10-11.
- ^ Charles Bruzon. Christian Socialist Movement (ed.). "We Must Try Everything For Christ". Retrieved 2012-10-11.
- ^ Royal Navy (ed.). "HMS Daring". Retrieved 2012-10-11.
External links
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